Musings of the Gods
by AngelQueen
Summary: Few things are certain in regards to the future, but some things will inevitably be, no matter what happens… Set after Paradise Lost. BMWW.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Justice League _or any related concepts. I make no profit from this story. It's all property of those who are way smarter than me.

Batman: _(snorts) _I'll say.  
AQ: Shut it, you. I'm not the one who royally screwed up my personal life so badly that I became a hermit in a mansion, when you could have had your princess.  
Diana: No argument here.  
Batman: _(scowls and sulks)_

**Note:** This is my first attempt at a _Justice League_ fic, and it's fairly unusual. Hope it doesn't make people cringe too much. Also, any guesses as to what movie might have inspired certain pieces of this fic? Virtual BMWW tingles to those who figure it out.

Now, without further ado... _Musings of the Gods._

* * *

To the outer world, the pantheon of Mount Olympus has become nothing more than a series of folktales. Our temples have either fallen to ruin, like Athena's great shrine atop the Acropolis, or have been re-consecrated to one of the newer deities that made their presence known to the people. We are taught in the classrooms either to make children laugh over the sexual exploits of Zeus, or as examples of how higher beings should _not_ behave. It would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting. Our deeds have been twisted and mocked over the centuries. The blind poet was certainly no historian, and many important details were either lost or reinterpreted in his epics, the ones still read by millions today.

So yes, our influence has greatly diminished. Until one woman stepped out of the mists of history to show them that, yes, Mount Olympus' immortal residents were indeed real. Diana of Themyscira's arrival sent shockwaves through the academics who had devoted their lives to studying us. She captivated many hearts and remains a respected figure to this strange, modern society.

Still, we are not completely forgotten by all. Diana's people, the Amazons, still give us proper respect. Our power is not wholly forgotten, and perhaps, through Diana, we can regain what we once let fall away.

All of that, however, is for another day. Today, I have a visitor.

She kneels before me, the simple white fabric of her cape pooling at her feet. "Most gracious Apollo," she greets me, "I thank you for seeing me."

I stare down at her, idly strumming upon my harp. "It is no hardship," I reply. "What questions have you for me, Hippolyta?"

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, once the Gatekeeper of Olympus and loyal friend to all of the Gods. You we trusted with our lives, with our home, and while others like Zeus and Heracles and Ares might blame you for Hades' betrayal and invasion, I am not so inclined. I know it is not as simple as they perceive it.

Some things are certain, Hades' attempt to overthrow his brother, for instance.

Hippolyta speaks, interrupting my musings. "I wish to know… what fate have I banished my daughter to?"

Ah, yes, Diana's banishment from Themyscira. I had never been certain if that would occur, but it seemed that it had. She had brought men to an island where no man since Odysseus had dared to tread, and they had helped to save the Amazons and prevent Hades from escaping Tartarus. Diana's reward was to be forbidden from ever returning home. Both Athena and Artemis were greatly displeased when they heard of it, but they laid the rules down and have only themselves to blame.

"No one's future is set in stone, Hippolyta," I chide her. "You know this better than most."

I watch Hippolyta wince and do not doubt that she recalls her own actions from millennia ago. I meant no slight against her, merely stated a fact, but the guilt on her lovely features is obvious. She has not yet stopped blaming herself for Hades' manipulations.

"Perhaps," I suggest, "you should be more specific? What do you wish to know of Diana's future?"

Hippolyta's blue eyes are distant and I watch her ponder my query, still strumming my harp. Music and prophecy, a strange combination Zeus gave unto me, but after so long, it feels natural. Music being mathematical in nature, the order of it all is quite pleasing, and quite opposite the power of foresight, one of the most chaotic powers of all.

"Will she be happy there, in Man's World?" Hippolyta asks me, her voice almost inaudible. "Or will it break her, as it ultimately did every other Amazon who left Themyscira?"

I am tempted to scold her for such bitterness, but decide to let it pass. My longstanding disagreement with Athena and Artemis over the fates of the last Amazons who chose to make their way outside of Amazonian society has passed down to the women of Themyscira. It has lasted for so long and will undoubtedly continue on for many eons. No sense in arguing now over the choices of Andromache and Penelope.

"Happy is a relative idea," I tell Hippolyta, "but yes, she will experience happiness. Friends she will treasure and be treasured by, a sense of purpose few of our kind have felt in millennia."

The Amazon looks only slightly reassured by my words, but nods and expresses her thanks. I watch her depart, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Perhaps I am unnecessarily cruel, giving Hippolyta such a vague answer about her beloved child's fate. Artemis would say that I am doing it merely to spite her and Athena, but my sister, for all her great age and wisdom, still devolves into a horrid harpy when she and I disagree. Perhaps it has to do with being twins. I honestly do not know.

I close my eyes and the images I seek pour forth with almost no effort on my part. Happiness is indeed relative. There are many possibilities before Diana of Themyscira. Within the next few years, her ban from Themyscira could be lifted and she could return home to her mother's arms, never to leave it again. Or she could die at the hands of her Amazonian sister, Aresia, after watching the men of the Justice League fall to the madwoman's vengeful plague.

Few things are certain in regards to the future, but some things will inevitably _be_, no matter what happens…

* * *

_The phone's ringer blares through the empty living room, grating to anyone who might hear it. Four times it rings, and is then replaced by a cheerful voice, "Please leave a message."_

Beeeep.

"Diana? Come on, Diana, pick up. It's Clark; I know you're there."

_Nothing._

"Listen, I'm sure you've heard… if you want to talk, I'm at the Metro Tower… please, Diana, don't… you're not alone…"

_A sigh, then a click. The message is recorded and waiting on the machine in the empty living room._

_The lone figure standing on the balcony overlooking the magnificent ocean view does not move. Luxurious black hair swings in the wind as she stands on the shaded balcony, her eyes on the rolling waves as she holds a glass in her hand._

_On the table to her left is a newspaper. The front page would catch anyone's eye._

**GOTHAM LEGEND PASSES!**

**Bruce Wayne dead at 106!**

_A montage of photos of Bruce Wayne throughout his life is displayed below the blaring headline. Some of him with his sons, Richard Grayson and Timothy Drake, some with the various women he dated, photos of his later life with his assistant, and eventual heir, Terrance McGinnis standing behind him._

_The glass in her hand shatters and she sobs._

"_Bruce…"_

* * *

Ah, poor child. That is indeed one of the sadder possibilities that Diana faces, but it contains one constant. In every possibility that Diana of Themyscira and Bruce Wayne of Gotham City meet, she will endure his death, one way or the other.

Another image…

* * *

_The album on the table is full of pictures and newspaper clippings. Bruce Wayne grinning naughtily at the camera, Diana's hand resting securely on his arm. The photos of their wedding, the two of them surrounded by many friends and family – Dick and Tim, Barbara Gordon and her father, and many of the Justice League. Pictures of two little girls, Penelope and Elizabeth, clasped in their parents' arms._

_An aged and withered hand touches on one of the photos, a gnarled finger brushing along Bruce's jaw in an almost wistful manner._

"_Grandma?"_

_A little girl, no more than four or five years old, appears next to the old woman. She smiles tiredly at the child, "Yes, Serena?"_

"_Pictures?" Serena points at the photo album. _

"_Yes," Diana nods. "Pictures."_

"_Tell me?"_

"_Of course, darling." Still surprisingly strong despite her frail appearance, Diana lifts Serena into her lap and begins to speak, pointing out various figures in the many pictures. From the doorway, Penelope, Elizabeth, and Terry McGinnis watch with undisguised relief on their faces._

* * *

Hmm, an interesting possibility. That Diana could and would forsake her immortality is a strong likelihood that has not escaped my mind. She would not be the first Amazon to do so, of course, and I think that is what drove Hippolyta to seek me out. By banning Diana from Themyscria, she has consigned her daughter to a life among mortals, which is never fully pleasant for an immortal. Diana will watch her friends grow older and die while she continues to remain unchanging, unless she forsakes the unending life gifted to her. It is certainly possible, but then, _anything_ is possible.

I snort at that thought. Yes, anything is possible. There is one path I am fairly certain that Diana and her compatriots will walk, one that will show them what could conceivably happen should they become corrupted. The Justice Lords will haunt them for years to come, will become a worst nightmare for many of them, but it is hardly the darkest future of all…

* * *

_Peace at last. Diana had almost come to believe that it would never come, but it has. Gotham City, the last holdout against the Amazon Legion, has finally fallen. Not even the city's mighty protector, the Batman, and his followers could hold them off indefinitely. Now the Batman is captured and will stand trial along with the other officials who stood against her and her people. They plan to save him and his accomplice James Gordon for last._

"_You have done well, Diana."_

_Diana turns from gazing at the city's skyline. She smiles at him. Her eyes burn with an unholy blue fire._

"_Thank you, Father."_

* * *

Yes, I do not like to think about that possibility too much. It frightens even me to think about what Diana could have become had she not been raised in Hippolyta's loving care. Hades, raise a child? I shudder at the thought. It was with good reason that Persphone refused to bear him any child. "Love him I do," she told us once long ago, "but the darkness in him is not something I will see passed on to any babe of mine." My sister was wise.

"Brother, I would speak with you."

I open my eyes, leaving my thoughts behind to pay attention. Artemis approaches, clad in the appearance of an irate eight-year-old, one of her favorite forms, and clutching the bow our father gave to her so long ago.

I raise an eyebrow at her. I recognize that expression on her face. Artemis wishes to argue with me. It takes no effort to think of the topic.

"Yes, Sister?"

"Hippolyta came to you for answers," she stated, summoning a chair to sit next to me. Her pride would never allow her to sit at the base of the dais as a supplicant would. "You did not give her what she sought. Why? What has Hippolyta done to displease you?"

I sigh. Twins though we are, and share a close bond because of it, Artemis and I have never truly understood one another. My sister is a hunter, perhaps one of the most cunning ever known, but there are times when her brilliance simply fails to apply itself to a situation. This is never more apparent than during our disagreements concerning the Amazons.

"Hippolyta has done nothing to upset me, Sister, but she wished for answers that I cannot definitively give. She wished for some news that would balm her guilty conscience." My disapproval is plain.

Artemis' eyes flash. "Is that so hard to give? She –"

"If Hippolyta wishes to ease her suffering, she may blame you and Athena for your vaunted laws about men being on Themyscira," I snap. "As if they truly meant anything after Odysseus traveled there seeking Penelope's hand, or Andromache left to bind herself to Hector."

Now her face begins to flush. "Penelope and Andromache's choices are not the issue –"

"They are at the very root of the situation with Diana," I interrupt again. "But that is neither here nor there for the moment. I have no desire to argue this again. Suffice to say, the fate of Diana of Themyscira is perhaps one of the most uncertain I have seen since Leonidas of Sparta."

That gives her pause, as well it should. We none of us could tell what was going to happen at Thermopylae, whether the Spartans would be able to destroy the Persians' taste for war and buy time for the cities throughout Greece to prepare a defense. Still, Leonidas did not fail in his task, and he and his are still honored by all, even today.

"She… will she die?" Gone is the anger, replaced by an almost genuine fear. My sister loves all of her Amazons, and it always pains her to lose one of them.

I sigh. "Nothing is certain," I murmur quietly. "We can only wait. In time, I believe her fate will become clearer."

Again, not the entire truth. Some things are certain, as I have mentioned. Nonetheless, Artemis does not need to know that. Foresight is my domain and I choose my own counsel.

Diana will make her own fate, be it with her dark knight or without him, be it as an immortal Amazon who will endure all the ages to come or a mortal woman who will dwell on this earth for but a short time. She will choose, but in her own time.

* * *

"_Come home, daughter."_

_Diana shakes her head. "I will not leave them, especially now." She turns away from Hippolyta._

"_Them? Or _him_? Do not think me completely unaware of your heart's leanings, my child," Hippolyta says reprovingly. "You owe him nothing. Has he not rejected you time and again? Even when he freed you from Circe's foolishness, did he not hide from you for weeks after?"_

_Diana stares out at the city of Metropolis. Her nails dig into the skin of her arms. She has not forgotten that, or any of the other times Bruce has pushed her away. It hurts, not just her pride, but her heart too. She is the Princess of the Amazons, beloved of the gods! She should be above seeking in vain the favor and heart of a _man._ Yet nonetheless, here she remains, waiting, hoping, praying for a single moment of truth._

"_Come home, Diana," Hippolyta repeats. "Leave your troubles and return to Themyscira. It can be just as it used to be –"_

"_But it can never be that way again, Mother," Diana cuts her off softly. "I have seen too much, grown too far, to go back to the way I was before." She slowly turns back to face her mother, and she smiles sadly. "If I leave now, I will regret it for all the days of my long life. This is home for me now, with or without him, for good or ill."_

_A pause, then, "This is my choice, Mother. Here I will remain."_

* * *

Ah, an argument yet to come perhaps? Hippolyta's unstoppable force meets Diana's immovable object. Fascinating, especially hearing Diana speak. Her heart lies with her dark knight, will likely always remain so no matter what path she walks, but her soul and honor lie with the world she has adopted as her own, the world beyond the island where she was born.

Pride swells within me. I had little hand in her upbringing, but she is still treasured by all on Mount Olympus. She might very well return our sense of honor to the world by simply being herself. Good girl, Diana. Well done.


End file.
